Rep. Bradley Byrne, after visit to Asia, calls North Korea 'most serious threat in the world'

U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, speaks on Monday, April 17, 2017, during a town hall meeting in Wilmer, Ala. The town hall, attended by approximately 60 people, was the first of 11 the congressman will be hosting in his coastal Alabama district this week. (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

North Korea is "the most serious threat in the world today," according to U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne who just returned Sunday from a week-long trip to Asia.

He said foreign threats in Afghanistan, Syria, Russia and Iran currently pale in comparison with North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un and the Pyongyang regime.

"None of these people in the Middle East, at present, are working at miniaturizing a nuclear device and putting it on an intercontinental ballistic missile to deliver to the west coast of the United States," Byrne, R-Fairhope, said Monday in Wilmer following the first of 11 town hall meetings he's hosting throughout his coastal Alabama district this week.

"North Korea is not just trying, they are making progress toward long-range ballistic missiles and miniaturizing a warhead to deliver ... to the U.S.," Byrne said. "If they can they will and we can't let that happen."

He added: "These people are brutal. They have no respect for human life. This man, Kim Jong-un, is brutal. I don't believe the leadership in North Korea is rational. How do you deal with someone that is irrational?"

Byrne joined about 15 other federal lawmakers on a three-day trip to Japan and a two-day stop in South Korea. While in Japan, the group met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and visited the U.S. Navy's Seventh Fleet.

In South Korea, the lawmakers met with the U.S. commanders and went to the military demarcation line that separates the two Koreas, which is the same area visited by Vice President Mike Pence on Monday.

North Korea's attempted missile launch on Sunday was considered a failure after it exploded within a few seconds. But the country has caused alarm with its acceleration of nuclear and missile tests in recent years.

"The threat level has risen seriously," said Byrne.

The congressman criticized former President Barack Obama's non-confrontational approach with North Korea in past years, saying it's only gotten the regime "closer and closer to causing substantial harm to us."

"I think President Obama made a mistake in being patient," said Byrne. "I don't think these are people to be patient with. They are brutal dictators, they are thugs and they don't understand anything but force."

In this Saturday, April 15, 2017, photo, North Korean men and women wave flags and plastic flowers as a float with model missiles and rockets with words that read "For Peace and Stability in the World" is paraded across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade in Pyongyang. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Byrne's comments come as a recent national poll shows a majority of Americans support military force against the regime to defend its allies such as Japan, South Korea or the Philippines.

A Pew Research Center poll, published April 5, shows that 64 percent support military action if need be, while 61 percent think sanctions - rather than attempts at closer ties - is the best way to deal with the nuclear threat posed by the North Korea regime.

The poll also shows that, unlike other public opinion on aspects of U.S. foreign policy, there are no significant partisan divides on attitudes about North Korea.

But when it comes to concerns about North Korea's nuclear arsenal, there are slight partisan differences with 74 percent of Republicans labeling themselves as "very concerned" about a weapons program, compared with 66 percent of Democrats.

The biggest public opinion difference in views about North Korean and nuclear weapons comes with age. According to Pew, nearly 78 percent of Americans ages 50 and older say they are "very concerned" about North Korea having nuclear weapons, compared with only 42 percent of 18 to 29-year-olds.